Haley Middlebrooks
Staff Writer
Troy has some new places to eat popping up all over town from a simple coffee and doughnut chain restaurant to a completely new Vietnamese restaurant, as well as some old favorites just relocating and changing menus.
Here is a short review of each new option to help you decide where to eat next!
Dunkin’ Donuts, which opened toward the middle of December 2021, has had a lot of traffic since its initial opening.
Dunkin’ is located at 101 Troy Plaza Loop next to Waffle House and Ruby Tuesday, andit shares a location with Baskin-Robbins as a joint shop instead of two individual shops.
From Dunkin’, I tried a plain caramel iced coffee, a mocha nitro cold brew with sweet cold foam, a chocolate frosted doughnut and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwich.
For the food portion, the chocolate frosted doughnut was good, and exactly as is expected from a typical doughnut. It had just enough chocolate on top to sweeten the doughnut a little more than just a regular glazed doughnut.
The bacon, egg, and cheese croissant sandwich could have been a little better.
When taking a bite, I noticed that the middle of the sandwich was “gooey,” meaning it was not cooked all the way through and did not taste as good as I was hoping.
For the drink portion from Dunkin’, the plain caramel iced coffee was good and very simple.
It was what I was wanting out of this drink and matched my expectations for it.
It was sweet, but not too sweet where the flavor or cream would overpower the coffee taste.
The mocha nitro cold brew with sweet cold foam was a lot better than I was expecting.
The sweet cold foam on the top really pulled the whole drink together and started and ended it on a good note.
The coffee itself was rich from the mocha flavoring but not too powerful or chocolatey.
My overall rating for Dunkin’ would be a 3 out of 5 due to the breakfast sandwich not being cooked through, which was very off-putting.
Next up is Viet’s Pho a new Vietnamese restaurant that opened next to Mikita across from Walmart.
Viet’s Pho has a lot of different food options, as well as three types of coffees available on the menu.
The coffees available are listed as Black Coffee, which is a traditional Vietnamese coffee, Milk Coffee a traditional Vietnamese coffee with milk, and Egg Coffee which is a traditional Vietnamese coffee with egg yolk and milk. All the coffees can be served hot or iced, and all are less than $4.
Viet’s Pho offers a wide selection of traditional Vietnamese food.
The appetizers include fried chicken wings, spring rolls, egg rolls and Vietnamese chicken salad.
The main entrees that are available are Bánh Mi, pho bowls, grilled meat noodle bowls, fried rice, broken rice and Hué beef noodle bowls.
I tried the fried chicken wings, the veggie spring rolls, the grilled pork Bánh Mi and the pho with beef broth, beef flank, and chicken.
Starting with the fried chicken wings, they were different than I expected.
The fried chicken had a sweet, tangy sauce covering the wings with leaves of cilantro for garnish that overall pulled the sauce and chicken together taste wise.
The veggie spring rolls had lettuce, cucumber and bean sprouts inside.
The rolls came with a runny peanut sauce that tasted nice and gave an earthy taste to the food.
The fried chicken and the spring rolls were both good and I would recommend them.
The Bánh Mi sandwich, which I got with grilled pork, was not as good as I was hoping it would be.
The only off-putting issue I found with the sandwich was the bread being too hard as it overpowered the few contents inside the sandwich.
After opening the sandwich and eyeing the inside, which turned out to be grilled pork, pickled veggies, Thai chilies, cucumber, and an egg-butter sauce. I enjoyed the inside portions of the sandwich, which were good and all the flavors meshed well together.
The pho with beef broth, beef flank, and chicken was more than I was expecting.
I ordered a small bowl, which was only $9, and it was a good-sized portion.
My first reaction to the pho was “Wow this is soul-warming and tasty.”
It was different than I was expecting, and I liked it so much that I even saved some and took it home.
The pho came with a medium-sized basket plate filled with lettuce, cilantro, bean sprouts, chilies and a lime wedge for available add ins to the soup-based dish.
“Viet’s Pho is a really cool college hangout spot. You get a lot of good food for your buck and the portions are big which makes for great leftovers the next day,” Emily Bumgardner, a junior graphic design major, from Enterprise, Alabama said.
Viet’s Pho also has a 20% off discount for any Troy faculty or student customer who shows a Troy University ID during their visit.
My overall rating for Viet’s Pho would be a 4 out of 5 due to the tastiness of the appetizers and the Pho, but the rating is missing one star for the Bánh Mi sandwich bread being too hard and overpowering the whole sandwich.
Finally, Sips Beer Garden and Food Court, which used to be known as “Sips on the Square,” has now relocated and changed things up a bit.
What used to be an indoor pizza restaurant with beer on tap and a large selection of wine has now moved.
Sips is now located at 115 Hanchey Street in downtown Troy.
With outdoor seating and food trucks that visit regularly, Sips has become a new social hotspot.
While on my visit to Sips, I tried the number 45 and the 32 beers that were on tap.
I wasn’t quite sure what to try, so I asked for a sweet and a dark to try both sides.
I also tried the cheese pizza and a couple of items from the food truck that was there.
The number 45 on the beer list was a dark imperial mount stout with hints of espresso and a musky taste.
This beer was not only my favorite but was also stronger than I initially expected.
This is more of a sipping beer instead of a regular social beer such as a Corona, Modelo, etc.
Next was the number 32 which was a Ghost meringue stout that had hints of fruity/citrus flavors, as well as the sweet and sour like lemon meringue.
This beer was very light and airy compared to the imperial stout which was very heavy and dark.
However, both beers were quite nice, and I would order again.
The food portion from Sips was quite small due to how busy they were, so I tried the cheese pizza which is the same as what was served at the old location.
The cheese pizza was cheesy and gooey in all the good ways, but it was also the greasy bar type food that most
usually expect.
Overall, the pizza was good and filling even with only having two slices myself.
The beers and the pizza pair well together.
“I liked the wide variety of options for different types of alcoholic drinkers,” said Jasmine Gay, a junior criminal justice major from Midland City, Alabama.
“The servers were very helpful when I asked questions about the drinks and let me sample them before ordering to make sure I didn’t get something I wouldn’t like.
“I also enjoyed the outside seating Sips changed to with a fire pit, and there was a lot of room to socialize with friends.”
Sips has more than 50 beers on tap and different types of wine available to customers, so there’s something for everyone including those who don’t drink alcohol.
Lastly, my rating for Sips Beer Garden and Food Court would be a 5 out of 5 for not only the good beer with wide selections, but also for the new atmosphere where it’s easier to socialize and have fun with friends and family.
Troy is growing and so are the restaurant choices, and there’s plenty of room for everyone no matter where you go.
Each businesses’ hours and contact info can be found online on their Facebook pages.
Check out the new eats around Troy and let us know what you think by contacting us on social media @Tropolitan.
